With all this talk about selfies, I'd just like to put in my own two cents on the matter. For one, I'd like to agree with Jamie when she says that selfies have been around for a while now, so everyone should just calm down about them already. I don't think they detract from a moment; in fact, I would argue that they can create moments, and I have Jason Feifer to back me up on that one as he refutes Sherry Turkle's claim that technology is negatively affecting the way we communicate.
However--and here is my actual two cents--I do think that selfies create the capacity for a very self-obsessed and vain culture. Not just the selfie itself, but the ease of accessibility we now have to them. Nowadays, most people have cameras on their phones. It's like carrying a mirror around in your pocket all day but only a little more subtle (everyone knows when you're walking around campus and Snapchatting). Now that we have such easy access to this technology, it's like an itch we have to scratch. I'll be honest, I've given in to the temptation to open up Snapchat on my phone just to check how I look many a time. Granted, most of those times I'm attempting to top the most recent ugliest face I can make, but the point still stands.
I hope this Snapchat/selfie phenomenon doesn't end up with my generation and the kids growing up with this technology constantly getting lost in their own eyes as they stare at themselves through a Snapchat camera all day like a modern-day Narcissus. Ultimately, I do think Sherry Turkle got it wrong that selfies don't create moments, but are moments created from vanity much better?
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